Brunch with the Birds- Glass Gem Corn

" Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, 

life is  a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." 

~ Langston Hughes 

American Poet, 1902- 1967

The Westin La Paloma hostess graciously accommodated my desire  to share the magic of brunch without my lens intruding on the privacy of the other diners by opening the quiet side of the dining patio. 

The little birdies birds hover over left over crumbs on the tray drive staff batty - but really, don't you find their bold innocence charming?  

My waistline never missed the little bit of egg soaked English muffin set on the water feature's ledge.  

There is magic created whenever we commune with nature. Near our patio is a fountain. I feel inspired to set near it a platform where we might literally break bread with our feathered neighbors. 

Un-retouched Glass Gem Corn image courtesy of Native Seeds SEARCH

It is my prayer to make it to the top of the waiting list at Native Seeds SEARCH  for the beautiful Glass Gm corn. The un-retouched photo, borrowed from their web site  has created quite a waiting list ahead of me. 

Last week was my 37th Anniversary. I would like you to know something of him, for my life would not be all that is has been without Gerry's love, fidelity, sacrifice and companionship. But I don't want this story of a uniquely American man lost among other details. So if God and the computer are willing, I will post my homage to a very good man tomorrow. And if there is only one post of mine you ever read- let it be this next story. 

God bless you all for coming by.  


Words and Images, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted by Lydia Plunk. All rights reserved.  

Tucson GWA Symposium VI - Scott Calhoun's Tucson

Scott Calhoun plucked this image of a girl clad in a cactus swimsuit off the Internet for his presentation The Hot Garden: An Introduction to Southwest Horticulture. A 4th generation Arizonan, his family came to Tucson during the days of the Mormon Brigade. Eating roasted agave heads and watermelon at Christmas seemed good enough reasons to settle in Arizona. The raw natural beauty, a reason to stay.

Scott's presentation on the challenges of the bi-national dessert was full of love and good humor. As the owner of ZonaGardens, the desert infuses his soul with its spirit. Even though he wasn't on the same garden tour schedule as mine, his kindly voice seemed to whisper lessons about what I was seeing. Starting with the bigness of skies and openness of landscapes.  

There is a special beauty to plants that do not let the harshness of the climate be a death knell as witnessed by the magenta plumes of this Amaranth.  This plant has thrived since ancient times, sharing with us its special gifts of nourishing seeds and rich dye to color our garments.

Zinnias. Proof that simplicity can be as beautiful as the exotic. Clusters of flowers call in the pollinators.  

Yet, to be alone with a single bloom is just as enchanting. 

Its been a bit crazy since I got home- I need to send thank yous to the gracious gardeners who let us garden geeks traipse through their gardens. Above- the ingenuity in re-purposing discarded solar tubes to grow celery in the desert deserves a medal. 

A retired civil engineer and his artist wife opened their rather spectacular grounds to GWA. The rebar replica of a Saguaro cactus with a wren perched upon the arm, a charming ode to the landscape.  

Next to water, shade is a most valuable commodity. 

A birdhouse signals the homeowners are good neighbors. 

The snake is not real. The sense of humor is. 

The good natured frog tempted a kiss from a garden writer. 

Gardening in California, I grew up to be cautious about pots in the garden.  They tend to provide hiding places for snakes, scorpions and all sorts of not-so-fun gardening companions to play hide and seek with me. Seeing so many pots in Tucson- I needed Scott's lecture to lead me to a greater understanding of why their omnipresence in home gardens. 

The local soil varies between granite and caliche clay- nearly impenetrable compacted layers of soil and salt. To plant a 1 gallon plant in the soil in gardens he installs, Scott employs a jackhammer with a shovel- like attachment. 

The satisfied smile emerging from the garden shed seems a good place to end this post. 

Tucson V- GWA Symposium- Botanical Gardens - What Makes an American Garden

The votes were tabulated by Readers Digest in 2005.  Americans elected The Tucson Botanical Gardens the  "The Best Secret Garden in America." Fueled by breakfast burritos courtesy of Fiskars,  I took a stroll with my fellow garden communicators through the 5 acre oasis in central Tucson with the objective to learn what captures the American gardening public's heart. What is it about this garden to which we instinctively relate.

Monarch Butterfly

Perhaps it is the American desire for freedom that drives the enchantment with butterflies. Or our love to root for the underdog. What appears more frail than a nectaring butterfly? What more inhospitable climate than the great Sonoran Desert? Leave it to the ingenuity of gardeners to understand how to create desire in wandering butterflies to settle down where we can enjoy them. 

Want butterflies? Plant flowers. Let them dance to the rhythm of seasonal breezes.  

Americans don't like to take ourselves too seriously. Jessica Reinhardt was a good sport about posing with the Monarch wings so that I don't have to show you how silly I look wearing them):- .

The shade of a pomegranate tree fills the role of the apple tree in warmer climates. 

We take the fruits of our labor seriously. Better known for our persistence,  our optimism equips us with the patience it takes to tend a sapling as it struggles to  reach its full potential as a factory of fruit and shade. 

We are naturally inquisitive. Since the Europeans got lost and ended up on our North American shores, we are a nation of explorers. I don't know what this cactus is, but its a happy discovery. So exotic- I have just the spot if California Cactus can source for me. 

We believe in the power of boldness. Such as the pomegranate- red wall embracing the water wall.  

We are a nation of contrasts. As a people, we are as cohesive as the background tile on the water wall. Yet because we embrace individuality, even when it seems this means we are celebrating fruits and nuts as literally as the relief tiles, we are not dull.  

'Bone Trooper" by Jana Imblum

We are a nation of immigrants, proud of our individual cultural roots. To celebrate the Mexican-American celebration of the Dia de los Muertos, the gardens sent out a call to local artists to create  life-sized dancing skeletons. 

'Quetzally Hernandez Corondo' dressed to dance with other dearly departed, by Camila Catrina.

As a continent wide nation, we are blessed to have pockets of artistic regionalism. Ceramic artist  Nina Borgia- Aberle is just one of the practitioners in the vibrant Tucson arts community.  

We are a nation built on the imagination of our people. Chris Kennedy Bubany celebrates everyday life through her decorative ceramic garden scene. 

Whatever our differences, when we walk through a garden, we are a nation of friends.

Whatever our family's stature in its country of origin, like this firethorn,  'Pyracantha coccinea' , in America, because this nation is exceptional, we have the potential to rise to barely imaginable heights . 

May God Bless the USA, all her gardeners and gardeners to be. 

Tuscon IV ~ La Paloma ~ GWA Symposium

 I'm a lawn lover. Maybe the last of my kind in Southern California. One of my goals this autumn is to return my rabbit-ravaged turf to emerald green, like this shot across the La Paloma Course.  

The  Garden Writer's Association Board of the directors met with first timers and mentors at the clubhouse for an introduction.  

Thank you to Espoma Company  for sponsoring this ice breaker where CL Fornari loosened us up with her rendition of garden-centric news 

Photo from Brent and Becky's Bulbs Catalog

The crowd broke into small groups to talk about their wish lists for our profession. My group included Becky (of Brent and Becky's Bulbs). She  dreams of magazines advancing anticipation of products when they are on the shelves, rather than waiting until the shelves are depleted- discouraging the consumer. 

Venelin Dimitrov spoke passionately about how seeds are "the last great bargain on earth"  and Burpee's  commitment to bringing beauty and hope to military families through their  Welcome Home Garden Program.   Note to self: find out if this program is in California, and if it isn't- how do we hook-up our military personnel and their loved ones. 

Very big on everyone's minds are children's gardens- particularly raised beds filled with basil and sweet-smelling herbs. 

Over at the  Vendor Exhibit, John Schoustra and his wife surround the ever-smiling Joan Bolton. John has two passions in life. To bring ever improved varieties of daylilies to market and to breed the best plants for our moderate California climate. Insider secret: If you see his name associated with a plant, you know it is good. His clientele includes the perfectionists who  send their landscapers to  his Greenwood Gardens match their flower palette to the colors in their patio Persian rugs. 

This is just so sweet a logo, I had to include it. 

Tucson III ~ La Paloma ~GWA Symposium ~ People Watch

"It's all about people. It's about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you."

 ~Mike Davidson 

Widely adaptable, the Red Bird of Paradise Caesalpinia pulcherrima immigrated from the  West Indies . In bloom, it it sparkles up the Sonoran Desert, particularly in hotel landscapes.

 These gals are morning people. (L-R) Dee Nash of Red Dirt Ramblings, Debra Prinzing, authoress and GWA President, Paula Panich Linsman- simply the best writing teacher I've ever had and Lorene Edwards Forkner, the new editor of the venerable Pacific Horticulture Magazine who is taking everything wonderful about the publication and then kicking it up a notch. 

President  of Terra Nova Nurseries Dan Heims  is a plantsman, speaker, collector, breeder and dreamer.  Having introduced 700 or so new plant introductions to the world, I'm hoping he gives the girl he danced with on a street corner in Eugene, Oregon (that would be me) the first interview when he surpasses the plant patent world record held by Luther Burbank.  Roughly 100  more "hits" and the world we be an even more beautiful world for his plant obsession. 

With Dan is  garden journalist/ landscape designer Joan Bolton of Santa Barbara Garden Design . Fluent in both English and Plant Latin- she was a dream roommate for the Symposium.  We are very encouraged to see her market segment up-ticking as her clients are once again willing to be more adventurous with their landscaping design dollar.

Foodie Alert: Joan's daughter ~ the beautiful Laura Bolton ~ is producing the fabulicious  food blog Fork Knife Swoon.  Get thee to her site before some publisher/ producer ties up all her time. 

Raised among the avocados not far from  Santa Barbara, Laura's food is like her. Stylish, fresh and approachable. Her  web images are frame-ably fine. 

 While she doesn't look old enough to have lived a previous life, in it she produced the most beautiful renderings for the exclusive San Francisco design firm BAMO, who recognized her talent straight out of the UCLA Extension/ CSU  Pomona Joint Masters Program in Interior Architecture. 

File this under its a small world. Before I met Paula Panich, I interviewed her daughter, 
Ilana Panich Linsman .  Then a college student, today her portfolio includes work for the New York Times. From the first blog post I ever wrote, in August 2007

"There are many people I will thank over time for this new adventure, but for right now, I would like to thank the Madrid based photographer, Ilana Panich-Linsman. I met her when I was Editor of my hometown newspaper, The Windmill. Immediately after she graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, she gave up her summer to raise funds to purchase medical supplies for those whose lives were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina through Bike Across America. I remain in awe ."

Tucson II ~ La Paloma ~ GWA Symposium

“The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful.” 

― Plato, The Republic

Walking straight out from the Patio, this is the view

Symposiums  are the legitimate brain-children  of ancient Greece.  It was at the dawn of civilization near the Mediterranean sea that aristocratic men garbed in garland swathed over their robes reclined on sofas. Their left elbows propping their bodies up as they sipped on wine served by slave boys, the upper class males recited poetry and discussed  the weighty matter of politics.   

Every year the Garden Writer's Association transports it Symposium to another corner of this continent. We members benefit in that we may learn not just from each other, but from the landscape. This year, the local committee arranged for the The Sonoran Desert to teach us that the word desert is about the vastness of space. About the beauty of  breathing room. Neither of which is synonymous with emptiness.

As Lorene Edwards Forkner corresponded about the city  on the edge of one of the great deserts of the world "Tucson was so beautiful in such a raw and rugged way."

Like a raw and rugged man, the Sonoran Desert can be tamed. The emerald greenness of the grass is ever so much more valuable understanding it is couched within the soft brown and olive greens toasting under the intolerant climate of sun, more sun and most sun. 

Seeing the grass at the hotel made me feel better about my own lawn. I sometimes wonder if  mine wont be the last lawn that is neither cemetery nor golf course. 

Love is beautiful. It can be born amongst the cactus as easily as in roses. Midway between Phoenix and Tucson are the Casa Grande Ruins. Here, in the middle of a wailing storm, once stood the leaking tent on the Indian reservation where my mother-in-law  was born. 

She grew up nearby, marrying the man not much wider than a cornstalk who left the Oklahoma farm at  the tender age of 14.  Back in the heartland, Ken heard if a man worked hard, there was honest work to be had in Arizona.  For the first several years he tended beehives. From their God-fearing Christian union came the hardest working man I have ever known- my husband. 

Loving cactus was not a natural inclination. It was one of education. First I acknowledged, begrudgingly, their right to exist. With time and observation, I learned to appreciate the sculptural qualities of linear cactus species. Still, it was a revelation;  these stalks staked to get their posture "right" for the garden. 

Man and God in collaboration. That is the recipe for a very good life.

  

All writing and images are copyright  protected by Lydia Plunk

Tucson ~ La Paloma ~ Garden Writers Association

"The primary joy of life is acceptance, approval, the sense of appreciation and companionship of our human comrades. Many men do not understand that the need for fellowship is really as deep as the need for food, and so they go through life accepting many substitutes for genuine, warm, simple.”

 ~Joshua Loth Liebman

To understand Tucson, you have to grasp a culture which flourishes like the cactus which grow plump along the roadways. Against the odds. Under the unforgiving summer sun. In the shadow of a black volcanic mountain. Historically, the ruling influences represented by flags have come and gone. The United States and Arizona flags follow the  Spanish, Mexican and Confederate banners.

  At times, the politics of this region is more brutal  than the Sonoran Desert geographic conditions. The lesson of the desert landscape is that what first appear to be insurmountable obstacles should be observed for their potential for uncommon beauty.

La Paloma. The Spanish translation is inexact to if it is dove or pigeon. Something odd to this native English speaker. In the American experience, the birds are distinctly different, particularly when you are not in tourist mode. Yet that is how translations often are. Inexact. 

In any case, it is the name of the beautiful Westin resort chosen by the Garden Writers Association for the annual migration of garden communicators known simply as The Symposium.  

Nightfall does not diminish the beauty of  the desert landscape

 In civics, in family, faith and in our professions, every individual in every community has a need for fellowship.  It is simply how God made us. And one of the great pleasures of being a human being.